Bath of the peoples of the world, what a huge variety of traditions and customs among different peoples and countries. Among the peoples of Africa, water has always been considered sacred; they widely used hydrotherapy in their mystical rites and rituals. In countries that had sand, they dug a hole in it the size of a person, and in this hole they made a fire from branches and twigs. Then they removed the remains of the fire from the pit and poured dry heated sand into it, placed various useful herbs and leaves, depending on what diseases the person was complaining of. Sometimes the fire was not lit, but boiling water was poured over the pit.
A person lay down in a hole (or lay down), covered it with various medicinal herbs, and sand hot from the sun was raked on top of the body.
The time a person spent in such a bath was determined by his well-being.
Snow bathhouse...
In the glorious city of Baikalsk, Andrey Pylyukh and Vladimir Zolotchenko built an ice bathhouse. Baikalsk is a small city in the south of Lake Baikal, not far from Irkutsk.
All walls are lined with ice. Up to 15 people can be accommodated inside. The thickness of the walls of the bathhouse is only 2 cm, if you do not take into account the ice. The technology, according to the author, is unique; oligarchs sometimes order such bathhouses for their dachas.
Not far from the bathhouse there is a font. Everything, of course, is made of ice.
The cost of a 2-hour bathhouse rental is 5,000 rubles
The bathhouse accommodates 15 people.
Floating sauna in the middle of the Vltava River in Prague...
Many large cities have a river that divides them into parts, creating both an incredible atmosphere and a huge number of problems in terms of transport and infrastructure. The Czech capital Prague also has a river! And architects Andrea Kubna and Ondrej Lipensky propose a way to use these expanses of water to their advantage; they propose to create a floating sauna on the Vltava.
In the very center of Prague, there may also be a floating bathhouse Floating bath on Vltava river.
This structure will have a diameter of 50 meters. Inside it there will be a reservoir open to the sky with a depth of 165 centimeters. It will be separated from the Vlatava River itself by a special textile membrane that filters debris, dirt, algae and bacteria. This pool can accommodate up to 300 people at a time. And around it there will be cabins for vacationers (24 cabins in total).
People will come here on public and private boats. Here they can take a steam bath, swim in the pool, eat in a restaurant, or just sit and relax on sun loungers or in the lounge. A closed circular structure will protect the internal space of Floating bath on Vltava river from the noise, dust and bustle of Prague, the center of which is very close.
In the winter, it will be possible to create an ice skating rink inside the Floating bath on Vltava river complex - after all, in winter there are severe frosts in Prague, and the Vltava River completely freezes.
Transcarpathian bathhouse. Steaming in a vat.
The first hydropathic clinic in Transcarpathia (Lumshory village) was built back in the 17th century (about 1600). Mineral water in the village flows directly from the rock, which was used by local princes and merchants to treat their battered bodies.
Cold mineral water was poured into large wooden troughs, and then, with the help of hot stones, the temperature was brought to the desired level. Then two large cast iron vats were cast, one of which is now in the Vienna Museum, and the second is in the possession of a local resident.
The organization of the process is very simple. Mineral water is poured into a cast iron vat. A fire is lit under it. Flat river stones are placed at the bottom of the vat so that the hot bottom does not burn. And the temperature slowly rises to 45-50 degrees. The vat is quite spacious (diameter 2.5 m, depth 0.8 m, wall thickness from 40 to 60 mm). The four of us can feel quite comfortable. A small mountain river with ice-cold water flows two steps away. There are small dams in it so that you can plunge your head into it. The procedure takes no more than one hour. It is very effective in winter, when there is snow all around and the banks of the river are covered in ice. And you lie in hot mineral water, drink tea infused with mountain herbs with honey.
You can add decoctions and infusions of herbs to the water. You can put a couple of armfuls of fragrant herbs in the water. And the procedure is not as tough as when steaming in traditional steam rooms. Warming up of body tissues occurs at a deeper level and more evenly, sparingly. The heat capacity of water is much greater than that of air and does not require high temperatures.
In the vat you relax more, you get pleasure from contemplating the world around you from the vat. If it overheats, there is a body of cold water nearby. As a rule, two or three visits to the vat followed by immersion in water occur in one hour. And this happens so naturally, without violence to the body, that you already begin to think about betraying the traditional bathhouse with a broom.
A water bath cannot be compared with other types of baths. After it there is an incomparable sensation, a slight tingling sensation, like needles, evenly throughout the body.
After several trips (into the vat and then into the river), you get the feeling that your muscles and bones have been replaced with new, younger ones. The body breathes health, and the nervous system plunges into a state of complete calm and contemplation. It is clear that hot mineral water treats problems of the musculoskeletal system, and contrasting cold water from a living river triggers hidden rejuvenation mechanisms.
When building such a bathhouse, you will need to build a font with a water cooling system.
Heading: |Architects from the Canadian firm Partisans implemented an original project for a sauna made entirely of wood. In addition to being entirely wooden, the project is integrated into the rock and is located in a picturesque region rich in artesian springs. The project is called The Grotto.
Located in an active volcanic zone, the Japanese archipelago has a huge number of geothermal water outlets. Practical Japanese use them to heat houses, greenhouses, supply water to public baths, and also to create tourist centers. Staying in a hotel built on a hot spring is quite expensive. But this does not deter visitors. Rooms in such hotels for weekends must be booked a couple of weeks in advance.
Hotels often set up whole cascades of “rotenburo” - open-air baths, where the views of bathers are not limited by walls and fences, but, on the contrary, they have magnificent views of mountains, valleys, and copses. The Japanese, like the Russians, love to warm bones. And here the young mountains of the Japanese archipelago serve well, supplying hot mineralized geothermal water. A hotel located at a spring will certainly have a list of elements contained in the water.
Somewhere in this hotel there is sure to be a pool into which healing water constantly flows, often smelling of sulfur or something else equally pungent. The Japanese believe that the range of these underground aromas turns an ordinary bath into a truly health-improving event. It is believed that water from mountain springs is especially useful for the overall strengthening of the body. There are no brooms, however. How do you bathe in a hot spring? In general, exactly the same as in a regular bath or bath. Upon entering the dressing room, you take off your clothes and put them in a plastic basket. In return you receive a small towel. Then you go to the “bathhouse” itself. Shower devices are built into the wall, under which, sitting on a bench, you wash off the first dirt, using a towel as a washcloth. Then it's the pool's turn.
The water there is usually much hotter than what we are used to. But the Japanese tolerate it completely calmly. The Russian man climbs into it centimeter by centimeter, cursing and moaning, until he finally settles to the bottom. During all these procedures, you use a small towel for its other function - like a fig leaf. With a generally calm attitude towards everything bodily, for some reason it is considered decent to carelessly cover the painful area while bathing in these very hot springs. True, the owners of some hotels located at the springs began to prohibit this practice, since hot mineral water corrodes these towels and the quality of the water becomes worse. After soaking in hot water, you return to the shower and wash yourself completely. “Rotenburo” are located in secluded corners of parks and gardens, on mountain slopes, where there are usually no passers-by.
The craving for nature, for the natural, is wonderful, but in Japan they know how to take this feeling to the absolute level, offering the client very exotic, from a European point of view, onsen entertainment. For example, in winter in Hokkaido, those who wish can take a hot mineral bath directly in the ice. Wooden tubs are frozen into the icy surface of a frozen lake and hot water from a natural spring is supplied to them through bamboo pipes. The client, looking around the snow-covered surface of the lake, can sip warm sake rice wine while basking in warm mineral water.
But in Wakayama Prefecture, the owners of the Arita Kanko hotel came up with hot baths in a suspended cable car. A large iron container, divided into several baths, moves along ropes thrown over a gorge on the seashore from the top of one mountain to another. They are filled with hot water from the onsen. Clients each climb into their own bathtub, and an aerial flight over the abyss begins. Unforgettable impressions are left not only by the unusual combination of a hot bath and goosebumps that involuntarily run through the body when looking down. A body that has lost its weight in water seems to float in the sky.
Heading: |
This unique health establishment has so far only one specific location - the city of Tbilisi. The capital of Georgia was named so because it was located near warm sulfur springs flowing from under Mount Tabor.
The average temperature of the source is 37 degrees. You might think, what kind of bathhouse is this? However, Georgian architects designed special rooms located below ground level. Only the unique domed roofs are visible on the surface. In the center of the hall there are pools lined with marble or local porous stone, into which hot water from a sulfur spring flows through clay pipes. This device is somewhat reminiscent of Japanese sento.
Griboyedov and Pushkin visited these baths, who immensely praised the health spa treatments and the skill of the bathhouse attendants.
The benefits of sulfur baths
Water enriched with sulfur has different effects on people suffering from various diseases. Its main advantage is that it dilates blood vessels gently, without sudden jumps. Regular use of sulfur-alkaline waters normalizes many processes in the human body. Thus, hypertensive patients moderately and calmly lower their blood pressure, while hypotensive patients, on the contrary, raise it to normal. Sulfur waters are recommended for patients suffering from various joint diseases. Increased blood flow helps accelerate metabolism in these places and, as a result, tissue restoration, pain relief and increased motor activity. Sulfuric water sources also have an anti-inflammatory effect: they heal wounds, relieve skin inflammation and accelerate skin regeneration.
A sulfur bath is not only water filled with a sulfur component. This is moderately hot water, which, in combination with sulfur, has a relaxing and at the same time mild tonic effect.
Heading: |The bathhouse, with its steam and brooms, cozy atmosphere, is not so much an object of hygiene as a favorite place to relax. And if so, you want her to be the best. But let’s be honest, we all love to have “cheap” added to “convenient” and “beautiful.” And since our people are not short on ingenuity, the solutions can be very curious, although often practical. We have collected a selection of photos, some of which may give you ideas...
Many people are often confused by the window in the steam room. Well, how to make it so that it doesn’t blow under any circumstances, but opens easily. And here is the solution - the door from the washing machine. Why not a sealed window? No drafts or problems with opening.
More on the issue of beauty. How do you store your firewood? Yes. Me too. And there are several very simple, but very unusual solutions that decorate the site. Moreover, they do not require any extra effort to implement.
You should be given a medal for building such a woodpile. Only now, it will be a pity to take it apart... We'll have to go back to the forest.
And this is a work of art. It would be a shame to destroy Recently, Japanese mini-baths with heated ofuro or furako have become increasingly popular. This is our response to the Japanese who stole our wooden barrel. Everything is very simple and you don’t need to build anything.
The main thing is not to overheat... 
If there was a hunt, you could take a steam bath... We already wrote, but there are also bathhouses in trailers.
This version of a mobile sauna does not need to be assembled. You can even steam on the road... if you want But this is not all mobile baths. For those who like to ride bicycles, there is a sauna on bicycle wheels. Hook up the bike and off you go. This is a miracle on wheels.
For lovers of cycling - a sauna on bicycle wheels There are even stranger baths. One of the ski resorts has a steam room in the ski lift. Are you frozen while skiing down the mountain? Climb in and take a steam bath.
Bathhouse at a ski resort...in a ski lift You can move not only on roads (or off-road). If there is a lake or river nearby, you can install a floating sauna. And no problems with and. He went out and into the water.
Water bath - and no problems with the pool 
Floating steam room - straight into the water Who told you that they should only be in the oven? If there are several large stones, all that remains is to finish the walls between them. You will get a fireproof bathhouse. Like in this photo.
And yet we associate a bathhouse with a tree. And this is correct: thanks to the fact that wood “breathes”, we can breathe in the steam room without any problems. But the construction of a log house is not an easy undertaking and is very expensive. Not everyone knows how to work well with an ax or pay the cost of building a log house by specialists. Here is a solution: a bathhouse made of logs. They are smeared with clay mixed with straw. The result is warm, reliable, beautiful walls that also breathe well and retain heat just as well. These are the bathhouses from the “cheap and cheerful” category.
A variety of baths, infrared cabin, hammam, Roman bath, Moroccan bath, craxen or hay bath, Korean mineral bath, as well as intensive Russian and Finnish baths.
The benefits of a bath for human health, mental and physical well-being have been known for a very long time.“Banny effect ”occurs during regular trips to the bathhouse.Blood vessels are trained and health improves.The variety of baths of the peoples of the world guarantees everyone the opportunity to select the most comfortable steam for themselves. Baths, according to their properties, are “soft” and “intense”. We choose the most optimal option for ourselves.
The softest infrared bath. Its radiation can heat the human body absolutely safely. Heating begins at room temperature and puts minimal stress on the heart. Session duration is 15-30 minutes. Natural humidity, air temperature 45-60°C
Hamam - Turkish bath. Temperature 45-55°C, humidity 65-85%. The body is heated on a marble table, where various procedures such as peelings and massages are performed.
Roman bath. The temperature is approximately 45°C, humidity 100% is achieved by the operation of the steam generator. This comfortable sauna is ideal for women; the surface layers of the skin are perfectly moisturized with steam.
Moroccan bath. Temperature around 45°C , air humidity is natural. All procedures take place as in a Turkish bath on a warm marble table (peelings, massages with aroma oils)
Craxens or hay bath. The miraculous effect of such a steam bath, which passes through the hay, absorbs its aromas, envelops the body, and the steam is supplied locally to the lumbar region.
Korean or mineral aroma bath.There are mats on the warm floor. The mineral jadeite has a beneficial effect. Jadeite is used in oriental medicinerecoverydisturbed human bioenergy.
“ Intense “ baths
Russian bath. Temperature 70-90° C, humidity is about 80%. It is hot here and there is enough steam. This balance of temperature and humidity allows you to achieve light and soft steam.
Finnish sauna. Temperature 100-120° C, humidity about 30-50%. Low humidity allows you to raise the temperature to 120° C As a result, the heat coverage in such a sauna is greater.
Japanese bath – ofuro. Immersion in water with a temperature of 40-42° C heats up the body. Then alternate contrasting effects of hot (45-46°C) and cold (8 ° C) water. In terms of load on the body and cardiovascular system, this is the most intense bath.
Ofuro- a bathhouse for lovers of contrasting sensations, which, according to the Japanese, has a rejuvenating effect.
Do you love saunas and know everything about saunas? Have you ever taken a steam bath on a cable car or tram? For people of our time, a broom and a tub are not enough; give them something unusual. And they serve it in the strangest bathhouses in the world. Let's go through them.
Extreme sauna in Ylläs (Finland)
Why is there a ski lift at ski resorts? Of course, to quickly get skiers up the slope. But in Finland they decided differently: why shouldn’t those inside the lift have a good time? Throughout the entire time the lift goes up and then down, vacationers can enjoy all the delights of a real steam room. The “Flying Bath” is designed for a company of four people. An extreme part of the “cultural program” can be the traditional “diving” into the snow on one of the mountain peaks.
Message bath in Milan (Italy)
While Estonians take part in a large-scale sauna marathon and run around the city, looking for saunas on maps, Italians offer tourists a more sedate option - a sauna in a tram car. The authors of the idea planned to prove to everyone that Milan public transport is not a place to get another dose of stress. They are sure that on city trams you can relax, dream, and relax. The unusual bathhouse is ready to accommodate up to 10 people at a time. After a standard set of procedures, vacationers can take a breath in front of a plasma screen on which videos about the history of public transport in Milan are played non-stop.
Bathhouse is not for everyone in Budapest (Hungary)
At the foot of Mount Gellert stands a luxury hotel built at the beginning of the last century. But all fans of spa treatments know this place thanks to the famous Gellert Baths. Marble columns, monumental arches, amazingly beautiful stained glass windows, exquisite mosaics in steam rooms and baths... A truly enchanting atmosphere has been created here. Vacationers are offered visits to three levels. Perhaps all the most interesting things await guests on the lower tier: there is a hammam, a sauna and three baths. The water in each bath is of a certain temperature: cold, warm and hot. Bath treatments can be supplemented with a massage or mud bath. On the second level there is a swimming pool with a retractable roof. The pool is surrounded by a two-tiered colonnade with galleries. In the courtyard there is another swimming pool with its own “excesses”: an artificial wave and cascades of stone terraces.
Bath for contemplators in Tokyo (Japan)
Many things in the Land of the Rising Sun seem surprising and unusual to Europeans, including the sento public baths. Sterile cleanliness, tranquility, absolute absence of haste or fuss, along with the strict sequence of all procedures are the main features of Japanese baths. One of the most popular sento is the Daikoku-Yu bathhouse in Tokyo. For the first time it opened its doors to visitors in 1927. In the 90s, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out inside the building, while the external appearance remained untouched. Today, few tourists will recognize a public bath in the outline of a Buddhist temple. Without exception, all visitors to the sento must comply with the most stringent requirements, so the bath procedures are slightly reminiscent of a measured ritual. First get rid of shoes, then get rid of clothes. Next, wash thoroughly in the shower on a special tiny stool, and only then dive into one of the baths, where you can finally completely relax. By the way, the bath is shared: several people can be in it at the same time. There are several such baths in Daikoku-Yu, with hot and cool water, as well as a massage effect. Another bath - roten-buro - is located in the courtyard, which is surrounded by a small garden, of course, in the Japanese style. People with tattoos on their bodies are usually reluctant to enter the sento, but in Daikoku-Yu, they say, you can easily end up in the same bath with a yakuza whose body is painted “Khokhloma.” Interestingly, recently, in an attempt to popularize sento among tourists, the owners, with the support of local authorities, began to publish special comic instructions that do not allow breaking the main rules of sento.
Steam room for partygoers in Berlin (Germany)
In 2005, the Liquidrom bathhouse was opened in Berlin - an ideal option for party-goers. A visit to the steam room, diving in the pool or massage treatments are accompanied by popular DJ sets. Those interested are invited to visit the Finnish sauna, salt cave or visit the panoramic sauna, one of the walls of which is made of glass. Every hour, lucky guests can receive free massage treatments: honey, salt or aromatic. If you want more intense relaxation, you can order a Balinese massage with herbal bags or a Thai massage with hot stones. A favorite place for guests is the huge swimming pool, where impromptu discos are held - peppy music combined with multi-colored lighting creates the necessary mood. Interestingly, if you dive, it seems as if loud music is playing through your headphones. In addition, on weekends, live concerts are organized by the pool for every taste: from classical and jazz to rock and electronics.
Space bath (CS Mir)
Is there life on Mars? Science doesn't know this. But it is known for certain that a real sauna was once located on the Mir space station. The special design of the steam room was developed by employees of the Energia rocket and space corporation, headed by Vladimir Komolov, who began working on the project during his student years. The cosmonauts themselves, on the one hand, were pleased; they even asked for birch brooms to be delivered. On the other hand, they complained about the grueling cleaning after each “washing”, and about the low efficiency of the process - the water was “smeared” over the body like jelly. However, due to significant energy consumption and excessive water consumption, the steam room was dismantled. Today, astronauts are forced to make do with special wipes and “dry” shampoo.
Bath in the Giusti Cave (Tuscany, Italy)
The history of the unique thermal spring began in 1848, when it was accidentally discovered by workers in the Giusti Cave. A visit to this place is unforgettable: the unique outlines of stalactites and stalagmites, shadows moving along the walls of the labyrinths and eerie silence. To reach the natural spring, located 200 meters underground, guests are invited to go through three zones with very symbolic names - “Paradise”, “Purgatory” and “Hell”. The closer to “Hell”, the higher the temperature. High humidity and a natural air ventilation mechanism make staying in the cave extremely comfortable. The brochure states that a visit to the Giusti Cave will cleanse the body of toxins and completely restore both physical and mental balance. And if you can argue about the latter (phobias are not easy to overcome!), then the unique natural atmosphere of the ancient grotto certainly has a beneficial effect on the body.
Unusual baths
There are Russian baths, there are Turkish, there are Japanese, and there are unusual baths, those that are used in narrow circles, not so common, and some may not even know about their existence and that such a bath can bring any benefit. Next, we will consider in more detail the popular non-traditional unusual baths.
Sand bath
The bathhouse is unusual - the sand bath is quite common, river and sea sand have their own healing properties, which our ancestors knew about. Sand in direct sunlight heats up and releases heat and chemical elements. During the unusual sand procedure, the sand heats up and retains heat, and thanks to its crushed particles, sweat is absorbed quickly when sweating is continuous. Sweat is absorbed evenly, and in one such procedure you can lose about 600 grams of weight. With this procedure, the body avoids sudden changes in temperature, and therefore the load on the body is minimized. Taking a sand bath goes something like this: it forms a hole with a small depression, the length is the height of a person, the body is covered with sand, preferably up to the neck, and do not forget to cover your head or put up an umbrella, your head should remain in the shade. The procedure lasts about 10 minutes, and then take a swim in river or sea water. This unusual sand bath is useful for people with a weakened body, for diseases such as arthritis, nephritis, and women's diseases. Contraindicated for neoplasms, anemia, tuberculosis and depletion of the body.
Bath in a bag with birch leaves
A sauna in a bag with leaves is simple and unusual; a person is placed in a bag filled with birch leaves. The peculiarity of this procedure is that a special microclimate is formed inside the bag, and birch leaves have excellent healing properties. With profuse sweating, all toxins are simultaneously released from the body and at the same time healing microelements of the leaves enter. The same thing can be done not with birch leaves, but with flower hay, the effect will also be beneficial, and the aroma will be divine!
Bathhouse in a dung heap
A bathhouse in a dung heap, an even more exotic and unusual bathhouse probably cannot be imagined, but such a thing exists. This bath is useful for people with radiculitis and painful joints. A person is buried in manure for a couple of hours, the rotting process has a beneficial effect on the body, and visiting it about 20 times will show incredible results. Therefore, if you overcome yourself and place yourself in an unusual bathhouse - a bath with a smell, the healing effect will not be long in coming.